ArcWatch: GIS News, Views, and Insights

By Carla Wheeler
Esri Writer

Inspired by books like Treasure Island and the television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, Dr. Dawn J. Wright grew up to become a professor of geography and oceanography at Oregon State University. Now she's continuing to pursue her interest in geography, oceanography, and GIS at Esri, where she was recently named chief scientist. Wright's duties will include overseeing Esri's new ocean GIS initiative, crafting a strategy for serving the science community, and offering input and advice to Esri staff members as they develop geospatial technology for scientists.

In this interview, Wright delves into some of the challenges that need to be addressed using GIS and science. "Helping out with the ocean GIS initiative as part of the job was extremely attractive to me, as I have been involved with Esri for so many years as an ocean GIS user and advocate. I can't think of a better position to be in now to help move that along," she said. Read the interview.

Dawn J. Wright, Esri's new chief scientist, has conducted oceanographic research all over the world. The map above shows some of the places her work has taken her.

ArcWatch is published monthly by Esri and contains GIS news, practical advice, and updates about the company's software and events. To submit article ideas, e-mail editor Carla Wheeler at arcwatch_editor@esri.com.

Professionals like Jill Oliver and Ryan Hunsicker signed up for the ArcGIS for Home Use Program to create maps and applications for volunteer projects they care about. Available for a $100 annual fee, ArcGIS for Home Use includes ArcGIS for Desktop Basic and several popular extensions. It's the ideal program for improving your GIS skills or putting those skills to use on noncommercial volunteer work. Read the article to learn more about some ArcGIS for Home Use projects.

What lies ahead for mobile GIS this year and beyond? David Cardella, Esri product manager for mobile technologies, talks about what's in store at Esri for mobile development and why both GIS and non-GIS professionals are embracing ArcGIS for smartphones and tablets. Read the article.

In a technical workshop, Lauren Scott and Lauren Rosenshein from Esri tackle real-world questions that a local government might face related to 911 calls. They also explain in detail how spatial pattern analysis and regression tools can be applied. Watch the video presentation.

Jerome E. Dobson, president of the American Geographical Society, writes that GIS, GPS, satellite remote sensing, and popular geographics collectively constitute a macroscope that allows scientists, practitioners, and the public to view the earth as never before. Read his article.

Newsroom

"The ground is going to eat us alive," said a witness to the terrible temblors that shook the central United States in 1811 and 1812. Esri's New Madrid Earthquake Bicentennial map story shows the epicenters of the quakes, along with photos, first-person accounts describing what occurred, and other details. The New Madrid Seismic Zone potentially affects people living in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, and Indiana. Learn more in this blog post by Esri's George Dailey and see the earthquake map he created using ArcGIS Explorer Online.

Get the most accurate demographic variables based on Census 2010 counts and in 2010 geography in Esri Updated Demographics. Demographic data categories include population, households, income, and housing.

Esri just released the latest set of color ramps for mapping elevation, bathymetry, environmental phenomena such as wildfires, and more. Read the article to learn more about and download the new version.

This map, developed by National Geographic and Esri, can be used as a general reference map for information and education. It can also be used as a basemap for web maps and web mapping applications by GIS professionals and other users.

Arizona Public Service (APS), an electricity utility headquartered in Phoenix, developed a web-based mapping application for managing vegetation, conducting pole inventories, installing smart meters, and more. The application also enables APS staff to view the proximity of wildfires to high-voltage facilities. The web application was created using ArcGIS API for Silverlight. Read the article.

Stories fascinate and educate us. Maps can tell wonderful stories, which is why Esri launched Map Stories. Allen Carroll, ArcGIS Online content program manager at Esri and former chief cartographer at National Geographic Maps, heads this initiative. "We're striving to be more relevant and newsworthy, so look for more map stories in 2012 that relate to current issues, including the economy, unemployment, the elections, sustainability, and poverty," he said. Read this interview with Carroll to learn how you can contribute to the project.

The second edition of Building a GIS includes an updated Capacity Planning Tool (CPT), which automates system design analysis tasks. GIS managers and technical architects can use the CPT to better assess implementation options before committing resources. The CPT is available on the book's DVD, along with exercises and video presentations that help readers further hone their expertise. Buy the book.

Technical Talk

Looking for a way to stand out? Earning an Esri Technical Certification can help you advance in your career and distinguish you from your peers. Esri offers certifications in three areas of expertise: desktop, developer, and enterprise. Learn about the benefits of certification.

Big Data—A Banking Bust or Boom?
Big data presents some big challenges. The ability to process large amounts of data very fast can help banks understand their customers better, even if branches are closing and personal interactions are becoming less frequent. As banks connect their enterprise systems to acquire greater insight and understanding, complexities and costs can explode. Simon Thompson, Esri's global director of commercial solutions, asks if it is possible to use location analytics to harness big data and put an end to these problems. Contribute your thoughts at the Spatial Roundtable.

Fifteen-year-old Jordan Romero of Big Bear Lake, California, fulfilled a dream in December when he reached the 16,050-foot summit of Vinson Massif in Antarctica. He has now climbed the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the world's seven continents. Esri created an application that let Jordan's family, friends, and well-wishers track his ascent. View the app.

Web Resources and More

In embarking on a $1.5 billion campus expansion, University of Calgary planners relied heavily on ArcGIS and geodesign principles to help analyze and evaluate the impacts of design alternatives for the university early in the development process. "Using GIS as a decision-making tool is a smart way of gathering all the things you already know and placing them in a single spot so you can see the entire picture," says Tom McCaffrey, GIS coordinator, University of Calgary. Read the article.

Alex Tait, chief cartographer and vice president of International Mapping, lists the 10 pieces of essential information he keeps on his bulletin board. No. 1 is a map of the 60 universal transverse Mercator (UTM) zones in the world. Read the article.

The Support Services Blog offers ArcGIS users tips and tricks; interviews with support staff; information about service packs, patches, and hot fixes; and much more.

Hardware Offers

Esri offers US customers two versions of the popular Data Appliance for ArcGIS, one each for Windows and Linux. Both are manufactured by Cutting Edge for Esri. Depending on the data collection package purchased, the Data Appliance for ArcGIS can provide terabytes of prerendered nationwide and worldwide data, including street and transportation, place-name, administrative boundary, and raster imagery data. Learn more about all the Esri and Cutting Edge offers.

Visit the Esri Store to find more software and extensions, upgrades, data, books, and hardware bundles.